This Day in Wisconsin History

On This Day: March 13

1849 - Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi Founded in Milwaukee

On this date a small band of five men and six women Franciscan tertiaries left Ettenbeuren, Bavaria to journey to North America. They were led by their parish priests, Fathers Francis Anthony Keppeler and Mathias Steiger. Upon arriving in Milwaukee they settled south of the bay of Lake Michigan. It is here that the women founded the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi. Their first mission was teaching and caring for the children at St. Amelian's Orphanage in Milwaukee. Two years later they offered domestic services at the newly established St. Francis Seminary. [Source: Sisters of St. Francics of Assisi ]

1862 - (Civil War) Battle of New Madrid, Missouri, Ends

After 10 days of shelling, Confederate troops evacuated New Madrid, Missouri. They retreated to Island No. 10 in the Mississippi River and fortifications on the eastern bank at Tiptonville, Tennessee. The 8th and 15th Wisconsin Infantry regiments and the 5th, 6th and 7th Wisconsin Light Artillery batteries fought in this battle.